Month: May 2017

One of the five gods in fighting games in Japan and our own Fighting Fox, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi took the stage in ELEAGUE Group C, named the “Group of Death” by many competitors. Tokido faced solid opponents including Xian, MOV, FChamp, Wolfkrone, and Fuudo.

Tokido’s first opponent was Razer’s Xian. Xian mostly played F.A.N.G in Street Fighter V’s first season but has swapped to Ibuki for Season 2. The change seems to have worked out for Xian as he won 1st place in Final Round 20. Despite Xian’s previous success, Tokido found a way to defeat him using a strategy focused on Demon Flips. Each time Xian strategized around his Demon Flips, Tokido came back with a counter. After a tough match, Tokido claimed a 3-2 victory.

In Round 2, Tokido faced Splyce’s Ryan “FChamp” Ramirez. FChamp played Dhalsim, a character he has used throughout his career. During this match, FChamp attempted to play a rush-type offense but every time FChamp tried to go aggressive, Tokido retaliated with a V-Reversal or Crush Counter. Tokido also utilized Demon Flips to keep FChamp off his game. Tokido took a 3-1 victory and booked himself a spot in the third round.

Tokido’s next opponent was EVO 2016 runner-up, Keita “Fuudo” Ai. Many journalists have described Fuudo as the best R. Mika player in the world. In the first game, Tokido applied the Demon Flip like his previous matches and won Game 1 using a variation of EX Demon Flip. In Games 2 and 3, Fuudo responded using throws and Nadeshiko. It was an even matchup, but Fuudo was able to adapt to Tokido’s strategies, defeating him 3-1 and sending him to the lower bracket.

Tokido faced Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot in the lower bracket. Tokido attempted to use his Demon Flip heavy strategy; but, Wolfkrone read the flips and countered effectively. Throughout the match, Wolfkrone kept the pace up by rushing in and using throws on Tokido. Though Tokido tried to counter Wolfkrone’s offense, the damage coming from Wolfkrone was overwhelming and spelled an end to Tokido’s ELEAGUE run.

In the upper bracket, Fuudo and Xian went toe-to-toe in a close 3-2 series ending with Fuudo advancing to playoffs. Xian was brought to the lower bracket against Wolfkrone for a second chance to advance to playoffs. Like most of Xian’s sets, this one also went to the last game. Wolfkrone used his rush-in offense to take advantage of Xian and defeated him to advance to playoffs.

On May 26, playoffs will start featuring our Fighting Fox Yusuke Momochi. The first opponent on his path to the finals will be Daigo “The Beast” Umehara.

With NCR finished, Justin Wong set his focus on last week’s ELEAGUE matchups.

The first week of group stage play in ELEAGUE saw Punk advancing to playoffs after defeating Brolynho and Smug. Our Fighting Fox Yusuke Momochi managed to overcome a loss to win two consecutive matches in the lower bracket, earning him the second playoff spot out of Group A.

Justin hoped to join his fellow Fox in the playoffs, but it would not be easy for him. His group contained challenging opponents such as Eita, Daigo Umehara, Gamerbee, Snake Eyez, and his former teammate PR Balrog.

Justin’s first opponent was Gamerbee. In this set, Justin used his signature character Karin against Gamerbee’s Necalli. In the first 2 games, Gamerbee used Necalli’s seismos to go on the offense, which made it difficult for Justin to take the initiative.

At the start of Game 3, Justin started to get the timing of the Gamerbee’s attacks and he used his V-skill to go on the offense. Once Justin filled his V-gauge, he used V-trigger to get in Gamerbee’s face again, but Gamerbee was able to escape by using EX Dragon Punch. Then, Gamerbee used his V-trigger to combo Justin and send him to the lower bracket.

Justin’s next opponent was Eita, who fell to Daigo in his first match.

In Game 1, Justin chose Karin against Eita’s Ken. Eita’s offense was aggressive and overpowered Justin’s defense to take Game 1. Before Game 2, Justin requested to go to player select and selected Chun-Li.

“I have always used Chun Li casually but lately I have been feeling confident with her because I believe she is one of the characters that really fits my playstyle in this version of the game,” Justin stated.

Justin played Chun-Li aggressively, hoping to catch his opponent off guard, but Eita was able to adapt to the new character matchup, taking Game 2. Before Game 3, Justin switched back to Karin. Like Game 1, Eita was aggressive put the pressure on Justin, defeating him and knocking him out of the tournament.

Though Justin did not advance to the playoffs, his performance at ELEAGUE showed the potential of his Chun-Li pick as well as his ability to play more aggressively. Justin commented, “The one thing I can take from facing Gamerbee and Eita is that I need to understand how to start brawling back instead of trying to defend most of the time.”

Later in the evening, PR Balrog advanced to playoffs defeating Eita and Daigo. After losing to PR Balrog in the winner’s bracket finals, Daigo climbed back from the lower bracket to beat Eita again and advance.

Group C will feature another Fighting Fox, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi. Justin’s thoughts on Tokido’s chances in making the playoffs, “Tokido has a really tough bracket but I believe in him because he is one of the 5 Gods of Fighting Games in Japan. He will be ready and be prepared for the matches he will face in the next stage.”